Choose Cedros email when you want to host your business mail in Cedros. Choose the Google Workspace connection when you already use work Gmail and want to bring that mailbox into the Cedros inbox while keeping Google as your mail host.
Start with where your mail arrives today. Connecting a website to Cedros does not mean you need to move its email too.
Compare the two options
| Cedros email | Google Workspace connection |
|---|---|
| Hosting: In your site's Cedros mail service. | Hosting: In Google Workspace; Cedros connects to the authorized Gmail account. |
| New mail: Your domain's incoming-mail records route it to Cedros. | New mail: Mail arrives at Google and is synchronized into Cedros. |
| Addresses: In Team, after setting up your mail domain. | Addresses: In Google Workspace. Connecting an account does not create Google users or mailboxes. |
| Setup: A ready mail service, domain DNS, addresses, and working outgoing delivery. | Setup: Working Gmail, an available Cedros Google connection, and authorization for the intended account. |
| Mail apps: Use the settings and app passwords for your Cedros address. | Mail apps: Keep using the Google account's supported sign-in and mail settings. |
| Old mail: Moving it requires a separate import and a check of the results. | Old mail: Connecting synchronizes mail; it does not transfer ownership of the Google mailbox to Cedros. |
The Google Workspace connection described here is available on self-managed Cedros sites when the site's administrator has configured it. It is not shown in the Cedros-managed interface. If you cannot find it, confirm your site's available email options before planning around a Google connection.
If you already use Google Workspace
Keeping your existing Google mailbox is usually the least disruptive starting point when your team already works in Gmail and you mainly want customer replies in Cedros.
The mailbox stays with Google. Keep the existing Google mail service, account access, and working incoming-mail records. Authorizing Cedros does not move the domain's mail hosting or cancel your Google service.
Google's MX setup guidance explains that MX records control where incoming mail is delivered. It also confirms that working older Google MX records do not need to be replaced merely because newer setup instructions show different values.
To check whether this path is available:
- Open Settings → Site → Mail in Cedros.
- If the native mail setup flow is visible, look for Use Google Workspace instead. On a site with mail already running, expand Other mail providers and find Google Workspace.
- Read the connection status. If Cedros says the server's Google app configuration is missing, ask the person who manages the installation to finish that setup. Signing in repeatedly will not supply the missing configuration.
- Confirm the work Gmail account you intend to connect. Do not choose a personal account just because it is already signed into your browser.
- Before authorizing, confirm that your organization permits Cedros to access that account. Your Google Workspace administrator can review the app's requested access under Google's app access controls.
After connection, check the displayed account and sync status, then verify a fresh test message in Email → Inbox. A connected status alone does not prove that every message you need has synchronized.
Cedros can send through the connected Google account and synchronize supported mailbox changes. If the connection warns that read, archive, and delete changes stay in Cedros, it needs reconnection with Gmail write access before those changes can synchronize back. Review that permission with your administrator before relying on matching mailbox states.
This is an email connection. Do not treat it as a migration of every Google account, a backup of the whole organization, or a connection for all Workspace applications.
If you want Cedros to host your email
Choose Cedros email when you want to create and manage your business addresses in Cedros and are ready to make Cedros the receiving service for the chosen mail domain.
Open Settings → Site → Mail to begin. The setup flow covers the mail domain, the DNS records it needs, your first address, and an optional import of existing mail. Once configured, this page shows the mail domain and business-wide mail settings. Addresses are managed in Team; personal mail preferences are under Email → Inbox → Settings, on the Your mail page.
Before committing to this path, confirm:
- Domain control: someone can edit the DNS for the exact domain that appears after the
@in your addresses. - Mail service readiness: the Cedros installation has a working mail service and someone responsible for maintaining it.
- Address coverage: every address you need, including shared addresses and existing aliases, has a planned destination and the correct people have access.
- Outgoing delivery: the sending service is configured and verified. Receiving mail successfully does not prove that sending is ready.
- Storage and continuity: your site's mail storage, retention, backup arrangements, and service costs meet your needs. Check your actual plan or installation rather than assuming a universal allowance.
For Apple Mail, Outlook, or another mail app, open Email → Inbox → Settings → Your mail → Your addresses, then select Connect mail app for the relevant mailbox. Follow Creating, replacing, and revoking email app passwords to issue its credential. Those credentials belong to the Cedros mailbox; they do not sign you into a Google-hosted mailbox.
If you are moving an existing mailbox
A move to Cedros involves two separate jobs: copying the mail you want to retain and changing where future mail arrives. An import alone does not change incoming delivery. Changing MX records does not copy old messages.
Plan the move before changing DNS:
- Record the existing provider, addresses, aliases, shared access, and mail apps your team uses. Keep a copy of the current DNS values.
- Set up the destination mail service and addresses. Confirm access and outgoing delivery before you depend on them.
- Follow Importing existing email into Cedros to plan the copy and check what it includes. Do not assume contacts, calendars, filters, signatures, or every mailbox feature will move with messages.
- Agree on when to change incoming-mail routing and who will check both services while the change takes effect.
- Test receipt and replies from an independent address, check the expected sender, and confirm imported mail is available. Keep access to the old service until you have verified the transition and retained the data you need.
For example, if hello@example.com is currently in Google Workspace, connecting that Google account keeps new mail arriving at Google. Moving hello@example.com to Cedros requires preparing its Cedros destination and deliberately changing the mail-routing records as part of the move.
Do not add a second provider's MX records expecting automatic copies in both inboxes. If you need split delivery, forwarding, or a staged migration across providers, have your mail administrator design that routing before editing the records. Use Understanding and verifying your email DNS records for the mail-specific record checks.
Keep outgoing delivery separate
An inbox, a sending service, and a mail app have different jobs:
- The inbox host receives and stores mail for an address.
- The sending service delivers outgoing messages using an authorized sender.
- The mail app is where a person reads and writes messages.
Cedros-hosted mail uses Amazon SES for outgoing delivery, configured separately from incoming mail. A verified incoming domain can still have an outgoing-delivery problem. Check the outgoing status and test a reply before telling your team setup is complete.
The Google inbox connection also does not configure Cedros campaign or transactional email. Those sending workflows have their own provider and sender setup. If your goal is only to send newsletters, receipts, or account messages, start with that sending configuration; you may not need to move your business mailbox at all.
Confirm your choice
You are ready for the next setup step when you can answer these questions:
- Where should new mail for this address arrive: Cedros or Google?
- Is that option available and configured on this Cedros site?
- Who controls the domain, the mailbox, and the necessary permissions?
- Are you connecting an existing account, creating a new mailbox, or migrating mail?
- How will you verify incoming mail, outgoing replies, and access for the right people?
If the answers are unclear, leave the working mail setup in place and ask your site or mail administrator to confirm the missing details. Share the intended domain, current provider, and the status message you see. Keep passwords, app passwords, and authorization codes out of support messages.
Start the setup you chose
- Keep mail with Google: follow Connecting your Google Workspace account.
- Host mail in Cedros: follow Setting up Cedros email on your domain.
- Set up campaigns, notifications, or outbound mail: follow Setting up outgoing email delivery.
If an existing Google connection has stopped working, use Reconnecting Google Workspace when syncing stops.